1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks season


The 1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks season was the team's 65th season. After making the Conference Finals two years in a row, the Blackhawks were hosts for one of the most emotional NHL All-Star Game games in history, and finished with 106 points winning the NHL Presidents' Trophy for best record in the league. The Hawks received terrific performances from Steve Larmer, Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios, Dirk Graham and rookie Ed Belfour. Hockey it seemed was back in Chicago, and dreams of the first Stanley Cup since 1961 were rampant. However the playoffs matched the Hawks with their old rivals, the Minnesota North Stars, who crushed their dreams with a defeat in the first round of the 1991 Stanley Cup Playoffs - four games to two. The 1990-91 edition of the Blackhawks represented the peak of the team between the Bobby Hull/Stan Mikita era and the Jonathan Toews/Patrick Kane era, and is probably the greatest Blackhawks team of all time to never to win the Stanley Cup.

Offseason

Coach Mike Keenan became General Manager and Coach, and traded fan-favorite Denis Savard to the Montreal Canadiens for Chicago native Chris Chelios in the summer of 1990. Several of the older Blackhawks retired.

NHL Draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalityCollege/Junior/Club Team
116Karl Dykhuis Hull Olympiques
237Ivan Droppa MHk 32 Liptovsky Mikulas
479Chris Tucker Bloomington Jefferson High School
6121Brett Stickney St. Paul's School
6124Derek Edgerly Stoneham High School
8163Hugo Belanger Clarkson University
9184Owen Lessard Owen Sound Platers
10205Erik Peterson Brockton High School
11226Steve Dubinsky Clarkson University
12247Dino Grossi Northeastern University
S20Claude Maillet Merrimack College

Regular season

The Blackhawks would play at a high level all season as they won the Norris Division and their first President's Trophy for having the best record in the NHL with a record of 49-23-8 - good for 106 points. The Hawks edged St. Louis for both of these regular season titles as the Blues finished second with 105 points on the last day of the season with a win over the Red Wings. In addition to winning the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best team during the regular season, the Blackhawks also were the NHL's best defence, having allowed only 211 goals over 80 games. Despite being the most penalized team during the regular season, with 425 short-handed situations, the Blackhawks had a penalty-killing percentage of 84.00%, good enough for 2nd place in the league. The Blackhawks also led the NHL in short-handed goals scored, with 20.
On October 25, 1990, Steve Larmer scored just 8 seconds into the overtime period to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 home win over the Washington Capitals. It would prove to be the fastest overtime goal scored during the 1990-91 NHL regular season.

All-Star Game

The 42nd National Hockey League All-Star Game took place in Chicago Stadium, home of the Chicago Blackhawks, on January 19, 1991. The game saw the team of Campbell conference all-stars beat the team of Wales conference all-stars 11–5.
While the game was high-scoring and exciting, the real story was the emotions. First from a hockey perspective, Chicago had not hosted an All-Star Game since 1974, and the Blackhawks resurgence was fueled by three All-Stars - Steve Larmer, Jeremy Roenick and Chris Chelios, all of whom received great ovations from the hometown fans during introductions. The second, larger perspective was that the game was played during the war with Iraq, and Operation Desert Storm had just started two days earlier. Some players asked that the game be delayed, but the league pressed on and players wore decals on their helmets supporting the troops. When Wayne Messmer stepped to the microphone and the organ began to play the pre-game National Anthem, the roar from the Chicago Stadium crowd, many of whom waved flags and sparklers, was deafening and sustained over the length of the song, totally overwhelming the performance, and creating a patriotic moment of history that transcended the sport.

Season standings

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Regular season

;Scoring
PlayerPosGPGAPtsPIM+/-PPGSHGGWG
RW80445710179371729
C79415394803815410
LW742738656527901
D7712526419223522
LW691935541298203
C7222295113501026
W802421458812467
D511129403225611
C751423377413402
RW7115193412211103
D7514152919120612
LW72101525586100
C/LW557916625001
D6131316776300
D4021214323100
RW676713119-7112
D70012124011000
D4511011559000
D774591518000
LW53617320-3200
C13055531000
RW232246-1010
RW70442-1000
G74033340000
LW35011183-3000
LW90114-2000
C701120000
G1000020000
G500000000
G300000000
D300051000
G100000000

;Goaltending
PlayerMINGPWLTGAGAASOSASVSV%
412774431971702.47418831713.910
195530182.4609385.914
40310230243.570175151.863
60110022.0002826.929
58301044.1403228.875
Team:484380492382082.58422112003.906

Playoffs

After reaching the Conference finals the prior two years and winning the Presidents' Trophy, hopes were extremely high entering the playoffs. The first round again reunited the Hawks with their old rivals from Minnesota who the Blackhawks needed seven games to dispatch in the prior year when the North Stars were the last place team in the division. This series however would not last seven games. The teams needed overtime to determine the winner of Game 1 at the Chicago Stadium, however it was Minnesota who emerged as the 4–3 winner. The Blackhawks won Games 2 and 3, an easy 5–2 win in Chicago, and a close 6–5 win in Minnesota. However the North Stars swept the remaining games in blowout fashion including a 6–0 shutout on the Hawks home ice in Game 5. What was looking like it could be one of the greatest seasons in Hawks history was suddenly over. Minnesota won their next two series and reached the Stanley Cup where they lost to Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
;Scoring
PlayerPosGPGAPtsPIM+/-PPGSHGGWG
C635842101
D6178462100
RW651642100
LW313421101
D521321200
W6123172000
LW6123153000
C/LW602281000
D610180000
D610181000
C6011100000
LW501121000
G301100000
D6011362000
C6011120000
RW6011380000
G600060000
C200021000
LW500046-1000
RW40000-2000
D500021000
LW200040000
LW30002-1000
D10000-1000
D100000000

;Goaltending
PlayerMINGPWLGAGAASOSASVSV%
295624204.070183163.891
6930032.6103936.923
Team:364624233.790222199.896

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records